Mimi's Market in Ditmas Park

Mimi's Hummus, which has inspired total devotion to its chickpea puree, opened up a small, next-door grocery on February 1st. At the time, owner Avi Shuker told Fork in the Road that it was a "modern Middle Eastern local market." Today, the shop was stocked with a variety of goods: some Middle Eastern, others from the twee Brooklyn artisan food movement, like Mast Brothers Chocolate.

Some of the more compelling items include imported goat labneh (or balls of fresh cheese in oil), vanilla-pistachio halvah from Sahadi's, freshly mixed zaatar spice, pomegranate molasses, and various dried legumes, like favas.

In the refrigerated section, there are homemade olive mixes, like one Tunisian blend with hot red peppers, and these delicious pickles. They're made with the skinny, delicate Persian cucumbers instead of the thicker-skinned, watery American cucumbers. They crunch refreshingly and taste bracingly sour. And at $3 for a large tub, they're a better buy than most local, small-batch pickles.